Is my Vex working properly??

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I bought a fl-18 last winter and took it today for my first trip on the lake and while fishing I notice that the bottom six inches on the display is always red. I would think that the bottom solid red line would be bottom but I can drop my hook about six inches past it. Is this normal for these units? Half the time I could not see the fish even though my rod was bending. I'm not impressed

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Norco - No I don't think it's normal that this happened to you I wouldn't panic just yet. Couple of questions... if this is happening in zoom mode I would check the back of your unit and see if there's a version 2 sticker on it. When I had a similar problem with mine they told me that I needed the version 2 update, another thing make sure your terminal connections are tight. Good luck.

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Gain is one possibility. Lower it until your lure shows up as a thin green line.

However, let's assume the gain is properly adjusted.

If the bottom is really uneven, or if there are rocks or very dense short weed clumps or logs, you'll notice the top of the red line marking the bottom is even with the top of the cover on the bottom.

In other words, if the bottom is 10 feet deep and if a rock, which is part of the bottom, protrudes 1 foot above the bottom and takes up a good part of your transducer cone, it will show up as a solid red line starting at 9 feet, even though there's another foot of water between the top of the rock and the bottom. So your lure, as viewed on the screen, seems to fall INTO the bottom. Flickers within the red will tell you there's lure or fish activity in that foot-deep zone. But in that case, yes, you'll feel but have a hard time seeing on the screen bites that happen in that 1-foot zone.

Turning the gain all the way to zero may make your lure disappear (well, it won't do that in 10 feet, but it might in 20), but doing that can turn that solid red line into a broken red line with spaces between the red, making it somewhat easier to pick out fish activity.

I normally go to Reeds Sporting goods in walker. I like doing business with them and if you talk to the right person you might get a deal and I have always felt that they are honest to me if they say they can't give me one. I doubt you will find any deals right now for the ION X until after season.